Railway freight-car door



Nov. 27, 1923. 1,475,917

A. R. AYERS ET AL RAILWAY FREIGHT CAB DOOR F-iled Nov. 24. 1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 M w T E m M NTTI. T.

Ali/l 4% RAILWAY FREIGHT CAR DOOR Filed 11011.24, 1920 sshucs-sheat z New. 27 1923. 1,475,917

A. R. AYERS ET AL RAILWAY FREIGHT CAR noon Filed Nov. 24, 1920 s Sheets-Sheet 3 IIIIIII'IIII'I 54 I LE 4 a INVENTQRS e I. 75; 0 BY 36. r w

A TTORNEYS.

Patented N... 27, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTINE R. AYERS AND ROBERT S. MILLER, 01 CLEVELAND, OHIO.

' RAILWAY FREIGHT-CAR DOOR.

Application filed November 24, 1920. Serial No. 426,126.

cars and more particularly to doors adapted for use upon cars used for shippin automobiles in which the width of the cor must necessarily be considerably greater than usual.

Our invention more particularly contemplates the provision of stops positioned upon the door guide at the point where the two doors come together.

In constructions now generally in use, I

these stops have been provided by lips on the outside on the back edge of each door which engage a projection of the door posts on the side frame of the car or in some instances, by roviding a door post movable with one oi the sections and arranged so that when this door is in closed-position the door post carried thereby is capable of being locked to castings fastened one on the inside of the side plate and the other on the upper face of the side sill near the middle of the doorway.

The other section of the door in these latter constructions locks to the section which carries the movable post.

However in a construction designed in accordance with our invention these stops are placed in the door guide ways and positioned centrally so that when each door has abutted the stops it is positioned half way across the door opening and when the doors are subsequently fastened together they are locked securely against movement in either direction.

Another distinct advantage in our improved structure resides in the particular positions of the stops.

placed that when the doors are brought to closed positions and secured together the stop plates are in the case of the lower one, covered by the edge of the door, and in the case of the upper one contained within the inside of the car, to thereby prevent any tampering with the stops and removal of them to permit any unauthorized person gaining entrance to the car. Various minor These stops are so featureswillbe made more apparent and the details of our invention more fully illustrated in the accompanying specification and drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a freight car provided withfa door constructed in accordance with our invention,

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on lines 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on lines 3--3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, a

Fig. 4is the rear elevation showin the stop in position at the upper side 0 the door frame,

Fig. 5 is a section onlines 5 -5 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows, F g. 6 is a section on lines 6-6 of Fig.1. Fig. 7 is a section on lines 7-7 ofFig. 1. Fig. 8 is an elevation partlyin section of a modified form of stop as applied to the lower side/0f the door frame.

, Fig. 9 is a section on lines 9-9'of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a section on lines 10-10 of F1g. 8 and 1g. 11 is a detailed view of a stop member. i

We will first describe the structure illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive, in which f0? indicates a freight car of any desired construction provided with a air of sliding doors D. This pair of oors D are adapted when in closed position to close a doorway of greater width. than usual to thereby enable the car to be used in the ship; ment of motor vehicles. v

The car has the usualframe 10 which carries a suitable track 11 u n: which rollers 12 are adapted to travel. hese rollers are mounted on hangers 13 of any suitable construction' whereby the' doors D may be easily moved to open or close the doorway. The lower edge of the doors D is provided with a depending guiding flange 14 which is formed by angularly bent facing plates 15 and 16 secured to the outer and inner faces of the door respectively. The lower frame 10 of the car has secured thereto at separate points angular guiding plates 17 which co-operate with the flange 14 for retaining the lower ed e of the door in contact with the car.

7 osts 18 form the adjacent edges of the doors D and extend throughout the vertical length of the doors. These posts are recessed at their upper ends for the reception of face plates 19. Secured to the under side of the the plate20. Thusly the plate 20 is secured near the edge of the frame and the abutment 21 is properly positioned in the path,

or guide way of the upper ends of the doors D. When these doors D are in closed posi- .1n Figs. 1 and 3, extend over the lower edge of the doors to 'apoint intermediate its? 'heighth. .Thelower end of each of :these tion the facing plates '19 contact the abutment and the wear is taken up by these face plates.

-Upon. the lower frame;10 of the car is placed a flooring F and in order to properly clear this flooring the lower ends of the 0st 18 are cut away as clearly illustrated 1nFig. 3. This cut away portion. is faced with an angular facing plate 22. The out .side vertical edges of the doors D at the lower ends thereof arefaced with angle plates 23. These plates, as illustrated clearly angle lates 23 ispositioned between the u stan ing sides of the plates 15. Cover I p ates 24 are thenpositioned at the lower.-

Inside corners of the doors and these cover plates, together with the lower-ends of angle. 1 zs- 'plates 23 and'of the inside facingfplates 22 .25. Additional bolts 26 are-also provided frame or-sill-10. A sto or abutment "37 are fastened to'the doors bygfmeans-of bolts which pass throu h the extreme lower edges of the doors an ed .Secured to the frame 10 oftliecar centrally of the door way is aguiding plate 27 similarly shaped to the plates 17. The

uiding plate 27 is secured to the frame 10 y suitable bolts 29 which pass through the depending side of the "angular guiding plate} either of the two hereinbefore described is obvious inasmuch as that when the stops are I arran ed centrally of the doorway, the doors e rapidlyclosed and will properly f 12$ 27 and aresecured at the inner side of the frame 10. i f' The stops'for the lower edges of the doors 2 is formed by a pair of angle bars-30, secured to the horizontal portion of the guiding plate 27 by rivets 31 or other suitable securmg means. This stop 30 is disposed inth guideway in which .the lower edges of tlie doors travel. The position of these bars 30 which form the stop are clearly illustrated in Fig. 5 and in this figure it will be seen that f their opposing sides are positioned adjacent one another. 'The cover plates 24 and the angular facing lates 23 are bent at this point as. indicate in Fig. 5 so that when the Suitable bolts 35 extend throu secure thereto the lower e of the cover plates24' the-upstanding: e of plate .15 and the. lower v.edgesof plates 23 and 22. 1 This construction is most clearly illustrated in Fig.8.

doors abut the bottom stop the edges of. the door substantially throughout their lengthwill positively abut one another. It will be seen that when the doors are in closed positions the extreme lower ends thereof will stop at 30 and the parts thereof can not b tampered with because they are practically covered by the lower ends of the doors. The wear of the contact with the stop 30 will be taken up by the angle plates 23 and the cover plates 24.

For the purpose of sliding the doorsto open and closed positions, suitable handles '32 are provided. A standard type of car door'locks may be provided such as for instance, illustrated in Fig. 1 and indicated by the numeral 33.

By referring now more particularly to Figs. 8 to 10, inclusive, we will describe the. 7 v

modified form of stop illustrated in these .figures. lVhile we have illustratedthis'stop of the-car over the top thereof and downwardly ashore distance on the inner side thereof, as illustrated clearly in. Fig. 9.

from the outer side thereof and are secure in position web which is disposed on the top side of the as shown is'cast integral y as are also the vertically disposed reenforcing ribs 38. The accompanyin parts remain unchanged from that describe and illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7.

, "A stop constructed in accordance with the modification is more particularly in the na- Y ture of a burglar-proof construction, inas- Imuch as the flooring F would have to be re- I moyed before the web 34 and stop.37 could 'betaken off and the flooring F. could. not be removed until access had the interior of the car.

been gained =-The advantage ofa'structure similar y be positioned for looking with respectto the by nuts 36 at the inner side of the frame 10, r

. The floor F is then placed over the top f the n 1 Q Ill doorway when they contact with theabufl ments or stops. When. the doors are. thereupon locked and sealed asis usual with freight car doorsilthey cannot thereafter be opened by unaut orized persons, inasmuch as the centrally disposed abutments prevent movement of the doors in either direction. Furthermore, when the doors are closed the stops or abutments are so covered or concealed by the doors as to make it extremely for said doors, said posts bein d f icult for any one to remove the stops and 1; Na them to slide the doors from the door way and gain access to the car.

/V e do not wish to be limited in any respect to the particular structures illustrated, inasmuch as various changes and modifications may be resorted to in carrying out our invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and we particularly reserve this right.

Having thus described our invention what we claim is:

1. A freight car door construction comprising a pair of sliding doors adapted to close a doorway, posts positioned at the opposing edges of said doors, guide ways recessed at their ends for the reception of ace plates, stops positioned centrally of the doorway for limiting the movement of said doors, one of said stops comprising a plate secured to the frame of the doorway and bent upon itself to form an abutment which projects into the path of said doorway and is engaged bythe corresponding face plates, the

other of said stops embodying an angular guiding plate secured to the doorway frame and a pair of angle plates secured thereto and projecting into the path of said doors to be engaged by the corresponding face plates, said stops being so positioned that when the doors are in closed position they are covered thereby.

2. A freightcar door construction which comprises apair of sliding doors adapted to close a doorway, posts positioned at the opposing edges of said doors, facing plates carried by said posts on their opposing sides, said posts being recessed for the reception of said facing plates, stops disposed centrally of the doorway for limiting the move ment of said doors, said posts being suitably cut away and said facing plates bent to accommodate said stops, one of said stops comprising a plate secured to the frame of the doorway, bent upon itself to form an abutment and bent so as to ofi'set the abutmlent from the longitudinal length of the ate.

p 3. A freight car door construction comprisin a pair of sliding doors adapted to close t e door way and arranged on the outside face of said car and a fixed combined stop and guide secured to said car adjacent the bottom edge of said doors whereby said doors may be guided to prevent lateral displacement and the movement of said doors arrested in the closed position and means for locking said doors.

4. A freight car door construction which comprises sliding doors, a doorway frame, facing plates on the opposite edges of-said doors, stops arranged in the guide-ways of said doors, one of said stops comprising a pair of angle plates, an angleguiding plate,

carrying said stop and ositionin it to be abutted by the lower en s of the oors.

AUGUSTINE n. AYERS. Rosana s. MILLER. 

